A/N: All recognizable characters & content throughout this story belongs to JK Rowling and the creators of the movie 2 Weeks Notice.
Prologue
"You want me to what?!"
She stood stock still staring at the figure lounging in her doorway. When she had opened the door, she was confused by the blonde standing in her way, his grey eyes staring at her amusedly. He wasn't known to mince words when he wanted something and he clearly had a mission on his mind. Hermione Granger wondered if he had finally worked himself in to a fit of insanity.
"Work…for…me…Granger," he repeated slowly as if her comprehension skills were the issue.
She rubbed her eyes. It was quite possible that she was the one working too hard and this was her onset of insanity.
"Uh…no thanks?" she responded, making to close the door and thinking of Floo-ing her Mediwitch. He caught the door and pushed it back open.
"Common courtesy would dictate that you at least hear the full offer before refusing," he drawled not in the slightest bit perturbed.
Her expression however, was all levels of perturbed.
"Right, but given who is doing the offering and who is responding, I am fairly certain there is no scenario in the world where the likes of me works for the likes of you," she hissed.
He grinned. Now she was concerned.
He put a hand to his heart, "Ah, that's the type of straight talk I like to hear, Granger. Running a mult-billion galleon company, I have little time for pleasantries and though I never appreciated it in our youth, I do say your honesty is refreshing."
She wondered idly if she should send a patronus to Harry. So far she seemed in no place of harm with their childhood rival showing up at her door, never having had two words with him since the final battle. Harry and him were pleasant enough with one another, some mutual understanding having developed between them years ago, but other than nodding his head to Hermione when they happened upon each other, he typically left her to her own devices.
Until now.
"Clearly you've had some sort of breakdown at work, and are not in your senses. I suppose you won't leave until you have your say, but I do suggest going straight home and getting some help afterwards," she opined, moving away from the door and gesturing him inside.
He practically waltzed in, "I can assure you that I am of sound mind and have aptly concocted a scenario in which you would be a fool to refuse my proposition."
"Proposition?" she said tartly. He looked at her steaming face and recognized how she had taken his words. He chuckled lightly taking a seat on her slightly dilapidated sofa.
"No, although I am sure that would be nice, but mind out of the gutter, Granger. Malfoy Industries is expanding and I would like you to head up our new Muggle division," he laid out using his hands for flourish.
"You want me to what?" she repeated again feeling like a broken record.
"Ah yes, I know," he said flourishing his hands again with every dramatic prose, "but what about all of my muggle-hating ways and biased attitudes and hypocrisy, etc etc…"
She stared at him, "Well, yes."
He nodded his approval. She was tough – he liked that.
"Granger, as you know, when the war ended, the Malfoys were neither here nor there. Our savior and martyr-who-loved-to-live who was not to be outdone with just killing that snake-face, had to fall on another proverbial sword with respect to my mother and I. You remember how eloquent his speech was," his eyes dramatically glistened as he continued his sarcastic tirade.
"Anyways, since then I have been paying my dues and working hard to restore the Malfoy name. Old habits die hard, Granger, but I assure you the Ministry and Potter are determined to stamp out every bit of prejudice until we are all just muggle-loving zombies who flinch at any sign of hostility."
She realized he quite liked hearing his own voice and even an audience of one, was still an audience.
"It has come to my attention, quite brilliantly, that soon enough there will be a need for some form of Mugglish integration in to Wizard society. I can even relent enough to say that we have opportunities to deliver muggle things to the Wizard world and vice versa. For instance, I am under the impression that many Purebloods will buy in to a "Muggle-cation." An opportunity to get away from it all and rough it by living like muggles do, sans wands, but with all the perks….quite like camping I suppose."
He seemed lost in thought and hadn't noticed her jaw dropping lower and her lower and her eyes getting wider and wider, almost popping out of her head which each sentence he uttered. She didn't know whether to be impressed or insulted.
She knew that part of his dues had been to have some sort of Muggle sensitivity training that had been developed by Harry. It was a beta-project and they had gotten Malfoy to agree to try it out.
Trust Malfoy to try and capitalize on it.
She decided it was time to say something, "While this is interesting, I don't quite see how or why you would need my assistance with any of this. There are plenty of others who will be more inclined to assist you."
He outright laughed at her. She threw him a glare.
"Yes, I am sure there are capable Muggleborns and Half-Bloods who could take on the role and do an adequate job. I don't want adequate though. I must have the best, and I am beyond schoolyard rivalry to not know that you are indeed the brightest one of our age, and therefore, the best candidate for this position. Granger, in our younger years I would do anything to oust you, but I never captured how I could have instead embarked upon a mutually beneficial arrangement. Now, I will not miss my chance."
His confidence was almost attractive. Had he been anyone else, she may have been swayed by the compliment.
"Sorry, Malfoy. All I see is that this scheme will get you richer. And I am not working for corporations who play on the consumers weaknesses and create ridiculous trends for their own monetary benefit," she responded, nose in the air.
His eyes narrowed slightly, making him look like his younger self. It was gone so quickly, she thought she may have imagined it.
Smirking, he looked at her perched on the arm of a chair. She looked almost cat-like. He decided to go in for the kill.
"Tell me, Granger. How goes your grassroots initiatives in the Department of Magical Creatures?" he purred innocently.
Her eyes narrowed and he put up his hands in mock surrender.
"I only ask because it is my understanding that you are having a tough time getting buy-in for your Fair Wage legislation."
She growled. Of course he knew. The Daily Prophet was delighting in highlighting constant rejections in getting the ministry to secure fair wages for magical creatures employed by wizards. What had begun as a passionate youthful tirade to free all house elves had been adapted over the years, culminating in her desire to bring some form of equality and justice to those considered to be "creatures" when many of them were smarter and more powerful than the average witch or wizard and should be compensated justly, rather than taken advantage of. It was the first step in her mind in changing the archaic mindset of wizarding society. She had taken a less glamorous job at the Department, opting out of the Auror route that her best friends had clamored at and resigning herself to a space where there were little resources and much to be done. At first she was hoping that she had some leverage with her connections, but it had quickly and strongly come to her attention that even the most open-minded individuals still had little time for such notions. They were embarking on restoring Wizarding society first, any other ideas were considered foolish.
Hermione was not to be trifled with however, she continued on her stubborn path, earning a legal degree and pushing the legislation forward every opening that she got. Truth be told, her time would have been better spent in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but she was not known to give up on her personal aspirations. She had spent a better half of 3 years working towards this point, it would be foolish just to give it up. She was Hermione Granger after all.
"Granger, you'll never get that legislation through," his words made her flinch. She looked at him with a cutting reply in mind, but his eyes were mild.
"Seriously, Granger. I have my contacts and without backing or the appropriate lobby-ists, your law was dead before it hit the water," he said watching her flinch again.
" ' ," she gritted out, "I will make it work."
He laughed at that, "I have no doubt you may eventually, but how long will that take you Granger? Another 5-10 years? You'll most likely be sitting here waiting for those old farts to die before you have get some serious consideration. And even then, passionate speeches and Gryffindor-ian declarations will not help the cause. As much as the Ministry spouts bureaucratic nonsense, at the end of the day, they want to know how it will benefit the corporation, in this case the Ministry."
She opened her mouth to argue, she had done this defense speech before, but found herself unwilling to launch in to it. He was partially correct. Where the Ministry can make grandiose gestures and capture all the bad guys, it was easier to get legislative attention. But, someone had to pay for that. The other departmental budgets would take a hit in order to ensure the Ministry remained in a positive light. Shacklebolt was a good man, but he didn't become Minister of Magic without some cunning and understanding of politics. Keep the people happy, keep yourself in office. It was a relief just to have a competent person in charge after years of duds.
"Okay Malfoy, you've made your absurd proposal, and taken a dig at my current line of work, you have filled your git quota for today, you may go," she said dismissively sliding from the arm of her chair to the cushion.
"Tut, tut. I am not done, Miss Granger," he admonished her lightly.
"I told you this would be mutually beneficial and I intend to stand by my words. Now, beyond the glaringly annoying fact that you are too qualified for any position in the world, you also bring the merit of having a legal background, which would be helpful when managing the Muggle side of the business. Though I have a general sense of what I would like the division to do, I do not have the hours to dedicate to check up on the progress, therefore, it makes sense to bring in someone who knows what to do with no solid plans and variable resources. Despite the lack of resources afforded to you in your current position, I can see you've managed to make some semblance of where you are now. Given the appropriate resources, I would be interested to see how you would flourish."
He eyed her a little too closely for her liking, his eyes filling with an excitement that was borderline manic. Dear lord, did she look like this when she got a thought in her mind?
"So, although I know money cannot persuade you, I will ensure that you are generously compensated, which I will assume will get you out of this charming location," he said looking around his disdain clear.
"Out." She said standing up. He looked at her surprised, but didn't move.
"No more Malfoy. I lived through years of your insults to me and my friends. I'm not tolerating it as an adult. Get out, I don't care if you offer me the moon, I won't accept," she said harshly.
"Granger…" he started again.
"No! I work hard Malfoy, and I take care of myself. Your asinine remarks are not welcome here. So you can take your stupid father's money and ideas and stuff it," her eyes flashed with anger and self-confidence. He should have been upset with her reference to his father, but he was too impressed with her stubbornness.
"Granger!" he barked startling her, "You are worth more than this crap the Ministry has been feeding you. You are no doubt proud of your accomplishments, but given your own personal will to get creatures equally compensated, perhaps you should include your own worth in ensuring that your hard work is properly acknowledged."
He hadn't moved, but he has raised his voice high enough to make his point clear.
"Now," he continued before she could snap back, "hear me out. I know you don't give a centaur's ass about money, so…in addition to heading the Muggle Division of Malfoy Industries, you'll also be put in charge of the Malfoy Foundation. You get to direct all of our pro bono efforts. That includes lobbying the Ministry for all and any legislation."
Her mouth fell open again.
"Granger," his eyes glinted, "you get to push from the outside."
"Or, you could just support the law without manipulating me in to working for you," she threw back.
He laughed, "My dear, I don't care about your law. I want you to work for me. If this is what will make it happen, you can lobby for Hippogriffs to deliver owl mail and I would gladly support it."
He got up and walked over to her, standing too close, looking down, "Work for me. You will have access to more resources you can imagine. I will even personally actively support this whole fair wage movement and promise you that it will get passed within a year. You just have to say yes, Granger. Think about how this will support the creatures, think about how this will increase tolerance for the muggles, use that overly stuffed brain of yours and think. Come to the dark side."
His eyes were dancing with mirth as he winked at her, turned towards the door and strolled out calling behind him.
"You start on Monday."